With the support of the Ontario Arts Council and Hamilton Community Foundation, Industry and HFTco are very proud to announce the Safer Spaces Project.

From March to October of this year, consultant and coach Robin Lacambra is leading a team of research assistants and a six person intersectional steering committee through the creation and development of a set of care-centred guiding principles to govern all Industry and Hamilton Fringe spaces.

The aim of these principles is to ensure the physical, emotional, and mental well-being of EVERYONE in Industry and HFTco spaces. They are being developed through research, discussions, professional consultations, and a survey to gather data from as many voices as possible.

This study will culminate in the creation of an Internal Culture Guide, a guide to life in our spaces. These will be our standards, expectations of behaviour, and systems of accountability, built to protect artists and patrons alike, and to provide an environment that centres belonging.

The last number of years have seen a shake-up in the performing arts. Abuses of power and harassment, racial inequity, misogyny, transphobia, biphobia, fatphobia, ableism, and other systemic barriers and stigmas have contributed to artists and patrons not feeling safe in artistic environments. Old models are broken. New standards are required.

The Internal Culture Guide will live on Industry and HFTco websites for feedback and sharing, and will be re-examined annually to ensure relevancy. Our hope is that this work can be useful to other organizations and individuals.

Industry and HFTco look to shift the idea of what an arts institution should be, offering environments suitable for a modern world. We believe there is a direct line from safety to confidence to risk-taking to innovation. If we aspire to be places of artistic innovation, it starts with safety.

Please join members of the Safer Spaces team at the Hamilton Fringe Festival Fringe Club, July 2022 for project findings and conversations with the project team.